1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses consistent with the present invention relate to a hard disk drive and, more particularly, to a cover member having an air guiding portion for guiding an air flow from around a disk to the outside of the disk and a hard disk drive including the cover member.
2. Description of the Related Art
A hard disk drive (HDD), one of the information storage devices of a computer, is used for reproducing data stored in a disk or recording data onto a disk using a read/write head.
A conventional HDD includes a housing having a base member and a cover member, a spindle motor installed on the base member, one or more data storage disks fixedly installed on the spindle motor, and an actuator for moving the read/write head for reproducing/recording data onto a predetermined position on the disk. The read/write head is moved to a predetermined position by the actuator while floating at a predetermined height from a recording surface of a rotating disk.
In the HDD having the above structure, when the disk rotates, air flows in the housing. The air flow circulates in the housing, and accordingly, particles in the housing circulate along the flowing air and are filtered by a filter installed at a predetermined location in the housing.
In a conventional HDD of 3.5 inches or 2.5 inches, a diameter of the disk is large and the rotation speed of the disk is high; that is, about 5,400 rpm or 7,200 rpm, and thus, the air flows sufficiently according to the rotation of the disk.
However, in a small and thin type small form factor (SFF) HDD, a diameter of the disk is small; that is, 1 inch or smaller, and the rotation speed is slow, about 3,600 rpm. Therefore, the air flow occurring due to the rotation of the disk is not sufficient, and thus, the particles on the disk cannot be easily discharged. Thus, the particles may stick onto the surface of the disk thereby damaging data recorded thereon, or may stick to the read/write head, thereby degrading the performance of the read/write head. In addition, the particles may collide with the read/write head and damage it.